Improvement in anti-freezing- hydrants



,gieten JOHN W. SLOCUM, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

Letters Patent No. 88,589, dated April 6, 1869.

INIPRQVEMEN T IN ANTI-FREZING- HYDRANTS.

The Schedule referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of thesame.

To all whom it mwy concern:`

Be it known that I, JOHN W. SLocUM, of the city of Philadelphia, in thecounty of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Hydrants and Plugs for the Drawing of Water,to prevent them from freezing, styled by me The Non-Freezing-Hydrant orPlug; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full and exactdescription thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings,and to the letters of reference marked thereon. v

It is generally known that hydrants and plugs in yards, streets, orplaces where they are exposed to the weather are liable to freeze inwinter, thereby causing great inconvenience and loss by reason of theinability to draw water and bursting of pipes.

rIlwo main causes of this are the remaining of water in the pipe,between the nozzle and the stop-cock of the hydrant, which is generallylocated below the surface of thc ground, and the free access andcirculation of cold air from outside to and about the `water-pipeswithin the case of the hydrant or plug.

The nature of my invention consists in the provision of means forexcluding the free access of the outside air to the inside of the case,or of the nozzle or supplyplpe.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I willproceed to describe its construction and operation, observing that itmay be readily applied to any hydrant or plug for the drawing. of water.

The drawings represent two elevations of a hydrant,

Figure l presenting the hydrant with my improvement attached, but thrownopen, as it would be when the hydrant is in use, and

Figure 2, the hydrant, with my improvement attached, and closed to serveits intended purpose of a protector against freezing. Y

Corresponding letters indicate corresponding parts of the hydrant.

A is the outside case of the hydrant, and

I, the handle, for the purposev of turning on or off the water.

At or near the end of the slit farthest from the handle, as in positionwhen the water is fully turned off',

I attach, by a binge, a piece of wood, metal, or other substance, E, ofsuch size and shape as, when shut in, will ll up, or nearly fill up theslit.

I prefer to have it made so much narrower than the slit as to leave roomfor and actually to apply to its upper and lower surfaces, respectively,pieces, F F, of India rubber, gutta-percha, woollen, or cotton fabric,or other fabric or substance, that will make joints airtight, or nearlyso.

For the protector, as described, a lid to cover the slit closely may besubstituted.

This piece, so fixed to a hinge, serves' the double purpose in closingof forcing the handle over to the extreme edge of the slit, so shuttingthe water entirely off and freezing the supply-pipe between thestop-cock which Vis operated by a rod attached to the handle and thenozzle of water, and when closed of excludingthe access of a freecirculation of the outside air to the in- Side of the case.

I also' apply a case, formed of two wings, B andv C, made of wood,metal, or other substance, working on hinges attached to the outside ofthe hydrant-case alongside of the nozzle, so constructed that whenclosed, as shown in iig. 2, they will completely cover or shut in thenozzle, and so exclude the free access of the outside air as well fromthe aperture as from the sides of the nozzle.

I also prefer to attach to, thc inside surface of the wing G (or,indeed, of both or either oi' the wings) a piece or pieces, D, of Indiarubber, guttapercha, cotton, or woollen fabric, or of any other fabricor substance, to form, when the case is closed, along the surfaces ofcontact of the two wings B and G, joints, air-tight, or nearly so. v

These wings I fasten, when closed, with a catch.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by LetterszPatent,is-.

A hydra-nt, having its delivery-spout, or nozzle, protected by abisected case, and the slot for the valvearin, supplied with a hingedsegment, the closing of which will cut oii' the flow, all substantiallyas shown and described.

Witnesses: JOHN W. vSLOCIJ'M.

WM. RUNYAN, HERMAN Menus.

